As the head-shaking disgust started to subside, I wondered what Penn State fans thought about this. Since I was so hard on Penn State in my post, I was mildly surprised I wasn't overrun with a glut of "It happens everywhere!" or "It's worse at INSERT SCHOOL HERE!" or "It was just beer!" remarks in our comments section by Penn State fans. Surprisingly, there were few, which isn't always the case when a fanbase is called to task on their boorish behavior.

Even more impressive was the response of the Penn State blogs I checked who had something up on the story. Run Up The Score had a copy of the email released by the President's office in the wake of the situation and blasted the Penn State "fans" in the video, saying...

"You douchebags just trashed the reputation of my University. My father’s and brother’s University, too. Thanks. Hope you all get caught, because you’re not only pussies of the highest order, you’re also obviously too fucking stupid to keep such a video off the internet. Congratulations. May you all have to check “YES” on any and all future job applications which ask “Have you ever been convicted or admitted guilt of any crime, felony or misdemeanor?”

For the rest of you, a question. Is there any way to stop this trend at Penn State?"

No "they do it to us." No "what do you expect wearing your team's jersey on our campus?" No stories about his last trip to watch Penn State at an away game. In a nutshell, no excuses. Just utter disgust at such abhorrent behavior. Period.

Same at another Penn State blog, Black Shoe Diaries, who put up the video and had this to say in a post entitled, "May No Act of Ours Bring Shame"...

"Words cannot accurately describe how disgusting this is.

This is Penn State, bitch.

No, son, that is not Penn State.

To the Ohio State fans featured in the video, I'm sorry. On behalf of the 99% of Penn State fans that are nice people capable of showing respect to opposing fans, I'm sorry. This is not the Penn State I know and love.

There is no excuse for this kind of behavior. None. The people in this video need to be hunted down, kicked out of school, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

Bravo. Again, no excuses, no justification. Just disdain.

And that's exactly what needs to happen from the fanbases at every school when opposing fans are abused by the hometown crowd. Period. There needs to be zero tolerance. Period. No excuses. That almost appalls me as much as the vile actions themselves. There is no justification for this crap.

Finally, those that witness this happening must step up.

One of the comments in our post yesterday did mention that it was "only 5-10 people" who were throwing stuff. True. But there were at least a hundred watching. Doing nothing. And that is just as bad.

We all must stand up to this bullshit, even if it's difficult when our own fans do it. And I applaud the Penn State fans and bloggers who are taking that step today.

"Tom Poole, associate to the president for administration, said although the university had released no statement, he had responded to e-mails regarding the issue."I don't know what can be done about it," Poole said. "People act like fools."

That's it?! That's your response?! That's why this shit happens, Tom - because the "associate to the president for administration" excuses such behavior with "boys will be boys" statements like yours.

The article goes on to say...

"(Poole) said Penn State President Graham Spanier's office had received "an awful lot of mail."This is a "terrible impression to give the world about Penn Staters," he added.

Spanier said last night he had no information concerning the incident and had not seen the video."

WTF?!

Let's see - you're the President of the University, you're getting flooded with emails about members of your student body apparently attacking visiting football fans, news stations are contacting your director of public information, newspapers are questioning you about it...and you can't make time to watch the :48 second clip of a violent incident that has your campus and many college football fans across the country in an uproar?! Are you kidding me?! Well done, Prez. Hey, sorry to bother you. I'm sure you couldn't fit it in between that mechanical engineering mixer and the fund raiser for the new humanities endowment.

"What's worse is that there seems to some that feel the need to defend the actions of these douchebags. They say well they shouldn't have been down around the frats. Really, that makes it ok? Is that Buckeye fan from State College that he knows the geography? If I went to Columbus, I sure wouldn't know where I was. Regardless, this behavior is unacceptable, good natured ribbing and light-hearted booing is one thing, but this is an embarrassment of epic proportions."

23 comments:

While I have been treated well at most venues, their are always assholes that try to spoil the fun. I am glad that the tOSU fans had the good sense to move along and not escalate the scene into a full scale riot. Too bad there wasn't a better police presence. I avoid the areas where the fray usually is (like Lane Av. or High St.), I spent enough time there when it was civil. The reputation of tOSU is not one that I am proud of, yet I treat everyone well and hope for the same in return. However, reps aren't built from wealthy alums, they are stained by drunken students and outliers that ruin it for everyone. TOSU has taken steps to curb it since 2002. I hope they find this idiot, but they may have to scour Pittsburgh to do it. His friends can explain to him how the evidence was provided.

CB,tosu has made some real efforts to curb the problem. as critical as i am of tosu & its fans at times, i readily applaud the school for admitting they have an issue to address and then making the attempt.

however, as you note, the problem on Lane is very real. like you, most of the mature tosu fans (even the ones who party like rock stars) that i know avoid the parking lot bars. that crowd is too drunk (and usually made up of folks who are neither students nor alums) and out of control. even a tosu fan risks being collateral damage in that mob.

SiC,when you're right, you're a 100% right. Tailgates, such as HineyGate(sp?) are avoided by anyone sane, but i usually don't see any problems in bars on Lane or in the parking lots along Olentangy. Cops have been a pain in the ass, though. They'd much rather write open container tix to people having a beer (and not bothering anyone) than face the actual problems, which as you say could be very real.

You're most likely right about the police... they tend to pick out the people that are "breaking the law" but won't give them any crap that may escalate into them calling for backup.

If you had the choice, who would you give the ticket to:

a) group of 10 or so tailgaters hovering around a 2007 Lincoln Navigator with a nice tent... a great spread of dogs, burgers, ribs, chili dip, finest imported beer on tap...

b) group of 10 or so tailgaters hovered around a 1999 Chevy Silverado with duelies with 10 x 24's of Natty Ice in cans listening to "Rock You Like a Hurricane" all while shouting "F**K (insert opposing school name here)" to the people passing by

I'm sure I'd pick group a... but I'd bet that group b is the one that will tarnish the school image.

I have been fortunate to not witness behavior of this nature ever when I have gone to a game. I'm sure if it were people that supported my school doing this, I'd at least make an attempt to stop them.

It is not necessary to have the reputation of European soccer fans in college football...

Dezzi,you're right i'd pick group A, but i'm not a pig (oh, did i say that out loud, i meant cop). Actually, i was pouring a nice (GreatLakes) brew into a plastic cup (cuz i knew they were cracking down) behind 20 rows of cars, away from any kids, under some trees. Those ass-holes were hiding between cars, waiting for the one moment they could legally bust me (while pouring).

And then (get this) they told me "discretion is key". You can believe me when i say that we didn' t offer them any food or beverage, although we had plenty and they were eyeing it the whole time.

That's unfortunate... at the point I was pouring it... I would've switched to chugging the entire beer so that the police (mmmm... bacon) didn't tell me to empty it on the floor.

Forgot to say kudos to the tOSU kid who walked away after the one guy hit him from close range... I'm quite surprised that he didn't turn around and try to get a shot in on the guy from tha 'Burgh... he would've had about a 15 yard head start on the rest of the mob...

On a side note... I've already had to turn down a birthday party and playing in a hockey game on the 17th of November... just hoping that both tOSU and Michigan can come through to make this game for the Big Ten (and possibly NC for tOSU) title... makes the game more fun to watch.

Another side note... after watching the Trinity lateral play... I had to watch idiot Ecker think his blazing 4.8 speed and lack of a juke would fool Nebraska's tacklers when you have slow Stevie B. right behind you wanting the pitch. Then I remembered that, I believe, the same year against tOSU... when we had no timeouts and 17 seconds left... Ecker caught a ball near the sidelines and CUT BACK TO THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD! Couldn't believe that he thought he could run 40+ yards and elude 11 Buckeye tacklers...

the worst is the hineygate/parking lot bars. for those who haven't been to cowtown, these are a parking lot of a hotel/bar/whatever near the stadium (on Lane Ave) for which the owner applies for & obtains a temp alcohol sales permit, then ropes off the perimeter, and rolls in kegs of beer you buy & consume. these are a huge problem.

not only do they turn the flow of alcohol from a stream (most tailgates involve a couple of cases -max- in a cooler & when that runs out, you go home) to an ocean. you have an endless supply of keg beer. not just before the game, but during & after.

you end up w/ 5,000 to 10000 drunks standing in two or three parking lots drinking tap beer for 5 to 8 hours on any given day.

this crowd is trouble. even the drunkest tailgater usually sobers up or passes out by the time they go to and come back from the game. this crowd never stops drinking and is a mob by game's end.

and tosu can't do much about it (yet). there is talk about fighting the renewal of some of the permits (time was only the holiday inn, aka hineygate, had a permit, and they closed during the game). but that will take time and until then, as long as the beer stays inside the ropes, it's legal.

the second problem is the tail gates. there used to be problems w/ these, as people would show up w/ kegs in an RV and you'd have pockets of 50 to 100 person parties drinking heavily.

tosu/the city/the state do have jurisdiction over the real parking lots, etc., where a lot of the traditional tailgating takes place. while the enforcement has been, at best, uneven, the large, out of control "rave" like parties have pretty much disappeared.

i've seen some people, like you, popped while even being careful. and then i've seen others passed over. during the NU tailgate last month, we were w/ friends in the RV lot by the baseball field. the state boys cruised thru and basically said that if they didn't "see" it (we went inside to pour into the plastic cups) and we weren't troubling others, they didn't care (pretty reasonable execise of discretion).

same day i saw campus police tag someone for open container, though she was walking alone thru the same lot and they had to check her cup to see the beer.

over time i think it'll even out (it's already become less of an issue in just a couple of seasons). while a pain, it's a start.

Want to see how justice works in the new millennium, people? Google "Gaetano Sacco," the name of the Pike VP who uploaded the video.

Good luck getting a job if you ever graduate, Mr. Sacco. It's only going to get worse, and let me be the first to tell you...the internet remembers ALL. Your KIDS are going to google you and find this shit.

King,while i agree with you that internet remembers a lot longer than humans, you're essentially dealing with computers that don't necessarily have unlimited storage. They guy will be very unlucky if there's still something about this up in about 10 years (that's a pretty conservative estimation). That being said if this stays up forever i'm not going to lose any sleep over it. He deserves it for (implicitly) condoning such behavior.

According to the Collegian, the good Mr. Sacco is a film major. I suppose we can all look forward to the snuff films the creep will be making in the middle of BF nowhere Mexico ten years from now. "DUUUUDE, did you see how that bitch's brains flew out the back of her head when you shot her after you fucked the shit out of her? That was the sickest thing I've ever seen."

King,it all depends on how long the site hosts and providers will chose to keep the information public. I guess if he gets a conviction out of this, then the clerk's office would keep it public (even if archived) for a long time (as long as it's required by law).

If there's no conviction most blogs/web sites won't keep it around long enough because of storage limitations (sometimes you gotta erase the old stuff to fit in the new stuff). Google caches are great, but even they get flushed every once in a while b/c there's so much information out there and storage is limited.As far as "implicitly condoned" i was just going easy on the guy, i mean he's already in enough trouble for me to pile on (and i know what it feels like to be in trouble: sometimes you can't catch a break -- and you need it, even if you don't deserve it).

A student who was trying to cross Beaver Avenue in front of Canyon Pizza was struck by a car late Saturday night, police said.

Gaetano Sacco, 19, allegedly darted into the street from Canyon Pizza, 260 E. Beaver Ave., and ran toward Penn Tower, 255 E. Beaver Ave. According to an accident report, he was struck by a car, fell to the ground and cut his chin. He was treated by EMS on the scene and refused to go to Mount Nittany Medical Center.

A witness said there was no way the driver, 18-year-old Penn State student Daniel Lecouvre, could have avoided hitting Sacco.

This was the second pedestrian accident of the weekend where a student darted in front of a car and suffered an injury. On Friday, a car struck a 21-year-old student as she tried to cross North Atherton Street. She went to the hospital with a hip injury.

According to a police report, in both incidents, the student pedestrians were intoxicated."

Students dart in front of cars all the time. They seem to forget their lessons from kindergarten or something. Hmmm...If Jenny wanted to fix the budget crisis she could have the DPS folks write jaywalking tickets....

Big Ten Tailgate has some interesting information about the pike national office (regardless of university, why does it always seem to be the pikes or theta chi being involved?) and State Penn admin getting involved.

Interestingly enough, Big Ten Tailgate also has a link a nice healing pic.

NBC has picked the story up... perhaps the ball is rolling now after a slow start.

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